The State - News from May 7, 1985

Fear of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has apparently caused a marked decline in homosexual activity in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to a report published by the University of California, San Francisco, AIDS Behavioral Research Project. A survey of 655 gay men disclosed a decline from 5.9 to 3.9 in the average number of gay sexual partners per month between 1982 and 1984, the study said, as well as a steep decline in high-risk sexual activity that might result in transmission of the deadly disease, for which there is no known cure. Thomas Coates, associate professor of general internal medicine at UC San Francisco, said data appeared to indicate that gay men have not substituted one sexual activity for another, but rather have declined in overall level of sexual activity.”